What can I do with my degree?
Is there a demand for artists?
How does your program prepare graduates for a career in art?

What can I do with my degree?
Art education and students may be certified to teach kindergarten through 12th grade. Many Art education majors earn advanced degrees to become administrators, art critics, teacher supervisors and art therapists.

Art and Graphic Design majors may be self-employed or work for public or private businesses. Artists may design film and theater sets, exhibits, brochures, web sites, fashions, costumes or television graphics. They may become commissioned artists, art materials retailers, art museum assistants, or studio craftspersons. Careers also include photographers, art directors, illustrators or copywriters, animation directors, gaming specialists or filmmakers. The possibilities are as varied as the individuals who graduate from the program.

Recent graduates of Western’s Art program include a gallery manager, free lance illustrators, jewelry designers, an art institute alumni director, art teachers and principles in elementary and high schools, and graduate school students.

Is there a demand for artists?
People with artistic training are in great demand, especially talented graphic designers and those with multimedia skills. Web and software companies hire thousands of artists each year, and advertising and publishing industries constantly need illustrators and photographers. There is an increasing need for animators and video game artists as well as FX collaborators for film. Employment of artists and related workers is expected to grow about as fast as the average through the year 2012, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

How does your program prepare graduates for a career in art?
The main objective of the Art program is to provide students with opportunities to express their thoughts and ideas through a variety of media, such as paint, clay and film, to name a few. Coursework is intended to compel students to think and reason to establish skills in conceptual thinking.

The Art Department boasts of fully equipped painting, ceramic, photography, sculpture and printmaking studios, a foundry, a department library, an active art gallery program with visiting professional artists who exhibit, lecture and conduct workshops, and a state-of-the-art computer lab with the latest MacIntosh computers loaded with the most current graphic design and 3-D animation software.

A talented and diverse group of professors who have many years experience as artists, illustrators, animators and designers work with students in upper division studio classes and individually to teach them techniques and professional practices.

Students have opportunities to study abroad and participate in internships and research projects and applied learning to gain a broad range of experiences that prepare them for their career.